NEW DELHI - India and China signed a landmark accord aimed at resolving
a boundary dispute that has bedevilled relations between the Asian giants for
more than four decades, the Indian foreign ministry said.

Chinese premier Wen
Jiabao (L) shakes hands with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after
signing an agreement in New Delhi April 11, 2005. Wen and Singh were due
to agree on a roadmap to settle a decades-old border dispute on Monday, as
the nuclear rivals aim to build a new "bridge of friendship".
[Reuters]

Wu Dawei, Chinese deputy foreign minister, who is accompanying Chinese
Premier Wen Jiabao on his official visit to India, told reporters after the
signing ceremony that the agreement has laid foundations for solving the border
issue between the two countries.

Wu, in charge of Asian affairs, said that the two sides still need to make
joint efforts as the demarcation of the border is concerned.

The
agreement, signed by India's national security advisor M.K. Narayanan and
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo sets out the "guiding principles" to
be followed in settling the China-India boundary dispute, a ministry statement
said on Monday.

"The differences on the boundary question should not be allowed to affect the
overall development of bilateral relations," the agreement, released by the
ministry, says.

"The two sides will resolve the boundary question through peaceful and
friendly consultations. Neither side shall use or threaten to use force against
the other by any means.

"The final solution of the boundary question will significantly promote good
neighbourly and friendly relations between India and China," it said.

India and China will "make meaningful and mutually acceptable adjustments to
their respective positions on the boundary question, so as to arrive at a
package settlement to the boundary question," it added.

"The boundary settlement must be final, covering all sectors of the
India-China boundary."

Bilateral "strategic and reasonable interests, and the principle of mutual
and equal security" will be kept in mind while arriving at a final settlement,
the agreement says.

The accord will help special representatives named by India and China in 2003
negotiate territorial claims as experts delineate the boundary on a map and on
the ground, Indian officials said.

The dispute is the consequence of a brief but bitter border conflict in 1962
that left relations between the world's two most populous countries in shreds.